Wednesday, 30 December 2009

I've made some more progress with my Roman army today and the results are shown below, illustrated by clickable photos and annotated underneath.

After trimming off the excess flashing and mould lines with a pen knife, I wash each miniature, separate shield and weapon in hot soapy water (i'm using a breakfast bowl here). This is to remove any dust and dirt picked up in the figures' manufacture or since removal from its box. The figures go from a very dull, matte colour to a very shiny silver once this is finished and feel very different. I find this step very important as it helps the paint stick much better and also removes all the dust in the recesses of the model.

This photo shows all the figures I cleaned up with the knife and then washed. It represents my Roman army, minus one cohort of infantry and the horses of the cavalry (if you would offer to paint them for me, please get in touch!). This is 1000 pts in WAB terms, costing the unit of new recruits as auxiliaries instead of raw recruits because the equipment my unit has is more like the description of the auxiliaries (they have the same stats anyway!).

Unfortunately, I didn't finish this in time to catch the light so I wont be able to prime and spray them until tomorrow.

Tomorrow's shedule:1. Undercoat miniatures2. Glue/mount to appropriate bases for painting3. Paint the already sanded bases4. Varnish first cohort5. If I get time, make a start on the first command stand

Tuesday, 29 December 2009

I have glued sand to the bases of my first cohort using some PVA glue I bought at Staples and some basing sand from Warlord Games. Once this dried, I cleaned up the edges of the bases so that no sand overlapped. The next stage is undercoating with brown then drybrushing several other colours on top. Still to do on this unit: varnish figures and then paint and base the standard bearer and musician.

I also used Polyfilla to fill the gaps in this GW base which was attached to the model when I purchased it off eBay. This is the horse for Governor Barbula. This photo shows when I had just applied it and it was still wet.

When the Pollyfilla was dry, I filed off the excess and then added sand to the base. I will also have to paint the base and add some grass to it after varnishing.

I've also been trying to remove paint from old figures but without much success.

Sunday, 27 December 2009

...for a few days, whilst I really crack on with my Romans. By the end of the week, I aim to have based and varnished Gaius' unit, paint and base two command stands and atleast prime and mount the remaining two units to complete the army. It's quite a job but I have a lot of time on my hands at the minute so it may be finished sooner than expected. Expect an update with plenty of photos by the end of the week.

I'll leave you with a (clickable) photo of my general Celer, issuing the command to advance! This is one of the stands I hope to have finished by the end of the week.

Thursday, 24 December 2009

Merry Christmas one and all from the frontier province of Lindum Colonia! I hope you all have a wonderful time over the next few days and I wish you all a very happy and productive new year.

I know progress has been a little slow of late but I've been cleaning up and prepping all the remaining units of my Roman army so I can just get right on with painting (no excuses now!). If anyone would kindly offer to paint 5 horses for me, please get in touch!

In the next week or so, expect some photos of the army in its entirety, primed and ready to be painted plus some photos of the finished command stands for two of my generals; Quintus Pompeius Falco and Quintus Caecilius Metellus Celer. Expect to see another unit of legionaries lead by ex-gladiator trainer Lucius Murena (he's a brute) in the next few weeks too.